Can Apple Sell Consumers on Payment on Your Wrist?

By

Robin Sidel

Sep 11, 2014 7:00 am ET

The new Apple Watch may look cool, but CEO Tim Cook is far from the first guy to pitch a timepiece that does more than tell time.

That credit may go to Chester Gould, creator of comic-book detective Dick Tracy. The comic-book hero was wearing a “2-way wrist radio” in the 1940s that let him talk with other members of his police department while he tracked down bad guys.

In the real world, Apple also isn’t the first company to try to convince people to use their watches or their phones or other devices to pay for purchases. Most haven’t gotten very far in acceptance by consumers.